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Molecules can be drawn using a variety of different styles. It is important to be able to understand the different styles, as they are likely to show up in the GAMSAT exam.

Lewis structures are useful as they clearly show all atoms and bonds in the molecule. Each bond represents the sharing of two electrons between respective atoms.

Partially condensed structures do not show the bonds between C and H. Atoms are drawn beside each other. Three hydrogens bonded to carbon are shown as a methyl group (CH3).

Condensed structures do not show any single bonds. The structural arrangement of atoms is still shown.

The molecular formula does not provide information about the structural arrangement of atoms. It only shows the number of each type of atom present. Looking at a formula, it can be seen that there can be many arrangements. Many previous GAMSAT questions have asked candidates to determine the number of different arrangements (constitutional isomers) that can be produced from a certain molecular formula.

Bond-line structures are simple and easy to read. They are drawn in a zigzag-like fashion where the endpoints and corners denote a carbon atom. The hydrogen atoms that are bonded to the carbon are not shown. It is assumed there are enough hydrogen atoms so that each carbon atom has 4 bonds. The end points will have 3 hydrogen atoms.

3D Bond-Line Structures

Wedges represent a group coming out of the page (towards you), and a dash represents a group going behind the page (away from you).

Identifying Lone Pairs of Electrons

There are several patterns that must be recognised for oxygen and nitrogen:

Oxygen

A positive charge on the oxygen atom indicates 3 bonds and one lone pair of electrons; a negative charge on the oxygen atom indicates one bond and three lone pairs. No charge indicates two bonds and two lone pairs.

Nitrogen

A positive charge indicates 4 bonds and no lone pairs of electrons; a negative charge indicates two bonds and two lone pairs. No charge indicates three bonds and one lone pair.

Resonance

Resonance structures are used to show the spread of positive charge. They show a combination of different structures in a linear fashion:

In terms of the GAMSAT, questions usually arise that require the candidate to identify the most significant resonance structures out of several for a certain compound. There are rules that can be used to determine the significance of resonance structures:

Structures with minimal charges are more significant than structures with several charges.

Structures that have a full octet of electrons on their atoms are more significant than those that do not have a full octet.

If two carbon atoms in a structure have opposite charges, this structure is generally insignificant.

In summary, look for the structure that has minimal charges, a full octet of atoms, and does not show carbon atoms with opposing charges.

Hybrid Orbitals

The concept of hybrid orbitals tends to confuse many students. For the purpose of the GAMSAT, detailed information is not necessary. Previous GAMSAT questions have asked to choose the compound that contains an sp2 hybridised carbon—easy marks!

The following information is sufficient to tackle questions related to hybrid orbitals:

An sp3 orbital carbon will be connected to 4 atoms/groups. The angle between atoms/groups is 109.5 degrees.

An sp2 orbital carbon will be connected to 3 atoms/groups. The angle between atoms/groups is 120 degrees.

An sp orbital carbon will be connected to 2 atoms/groups. The angle between atoms/groups is 180 degrees.

It is important that students are familiar with the GAMSAT General Chemistry Syllabus so they can focus their General Chemistry study to the most important concepts. Once students are familiar with the GAMSAT General Chemistry Syllabus, they can more effectively focus their study when going through hundreds of pages from General Chemistry textbooks.

Our team at AceGAMSAT have created The General Chemistry Bible, which is a GAMSAT study guide containing content on all relevant topics for the GAMSAT. So if you want to find the easiest way to learn all required General Chemistry content then The General Chemistry Bible is for you.

GAMSAT Organic Chemistry Syllabus

It is crucial that students are familiar with the GAMSAT Organic Chemistry Syllabus so they can direct their Organic Chemistry study to the most important concepts. Once students are familiar with the GAMSAT Organic Chemistry Syllabus they can quickly find the relevant information to learn when going through hundreds of pages from Organic Chemistry textbooks.

Our team at AceGAMSAT have created The Organic Chemistry Bible, which is a GAMSAT study guide containing content on all relevant topics for the GAMSAT. So if you want to find the easiest way to learn all required Organic Chemistry content then The Organic Chemistry Bible is for you.

It is important that students are familiar with the GAMSAT Biology Syllabus in order to direct their Biology study to the most crucial concepts. Once students know the GAMSAT Biology Syllabus they can quickly find the relevant information to learn when going through thousands of pages from Biology textbooks.

Our team at AceGAMSAT have created The Biology Bible, which is a GAMSAT study guide containing content on all relevant topics for the GAMSAT. So if you want to find the easiest way to learn all required physics content then The Biology Bible is for you.

It is important that students are familiar with the GAMSAT Physics Syllabus in order to direct their physics study to the most important concepts. Once students know the GAMSAT Physics Syllabus they can quickly find the relevant information to learn when going through hundreds of pages from physics textbooks.

Our team at AceGAMSAT have created The Physics Bible, which is a GAMSAT study guide containing content on all relevant topics for the GAMSAT. So if you want to find the easiest way to learn all required physics content then The Physics Bible is for you.

Gamsat essay topics

So, we will now examine common GAMSAT Essay Topics to expect in the GAMSAT Exam.

Task A of the GAMSAT is targeted to be the argumentative essay. The quotes that students receive are usually socially or philosophically based.

Common topics that students could expect in the GAMSAT include:

– Freedom

– Crime

– Punishment

– Science

– Technology

– Poverty

– Wealth

Task B of the GAMSAT is targeted to be the reflective essay. The quotes that students receive usually have a personal theme to allow students to relate the themes with their own experiences in life.

Common topics that students could expect in the GAMSAT include:

– Love

– Beauty

– Conformity

– Originality

– Humour

– Suffering

– Youth

– Ageing

We will now outline some quick tips for writing your GAMSAT Essay.

It is highly recommended that students write about these GAMSAT Essay Topics. Students should find quotes that relate to these themes and write as many essays as possible about these. Then when students are in the actual exam they will already have so many examples in mind for each theme to back up their essays – This will greatly improve your timing in the essay!

Students should write practice essays for each of these themes and have them looked at by a professional or a friend who has went exceptionally well in the GAMSAT

When practicing essay writing students should work under timed conditions and try to simulate the actual exam environment as much as possible. Find a quote place and sit down at a desk. Students need to actually write the essays out on lined paper – just like they will need to do in the actual GAMSAT exam. This is also beneficial as it will train the writing muscles to copy with 1 hour of continuous writing in section 2.

On a final note I would like to share 2 valuable resources:

‘The Meaning of Things’ by AC Grayling is a great book that covers common themes in life. These common themes are similar to the GAMSAT Essay Topics. It is highly recommended that students get their hands on this book.

Momentum and collision problems commonly arise in the exam. We will now examine momentum and collisions for GAMSAT and overview the required content.
Students should know that Momentum is a vector quantity and is a measure of a moving object’s tendency to continue along its present path. The momentum of an object is calculated by multiplying its mass by its velocity. If an object’s mass or velocity is increased, its momentum is increased. A higher momentum of an object corresponds to an increased difficulty in changing its path.

The following is the equation used to calculate momentum.M = mV

M: momentum
m: mass
V: velocity

The units for momentum are kg m/s. When approaching momentum problems students should remember that the momentum of an isolated system is always conserved.

Knowledge about collision is crucial, as problems involving collisions have shown up in many previous GAMSAT exams. A collision occurs when two bodies collide, in which each exerts a force upon the other, causing the exchange of energy or momentum. For the GAMSAT, students should be aware of the two types of collisions and their characteristics – elastic and non-elastic collisions.

Elastic collisions
– Momentum and kinetic energy are conserved in elastic collisions.
– Objects bounce off each other e.g. collision of rubber balls and collision of gas molecules.

Inelastic collisions– Momentum is conserved, and kinetic energy is lost as heat or sound in inelastic collisions.
– Objects stick together upon collision e.g. collision between truck and car becoming stuck together.

When two isolated objects collide momentum is always conserved. We use the following equation in problems that involve the collision of isolated objects.

m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1f + m2v2f

This equation should be memorised as ACER may test a students ability to know and manipulate this equation in order to choose the correct answer from a given set of 4 options.

On a final note,

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